This time in KK…
Trip to KK has been going fine other than having to fork RM 332 for another departure ticket yesterday. Was a bad start to a well and long planned solo trip here, however, I am not going to let that spoil my trip.
It’s so so damn hot here in KK. The sun rises as early as 6 am and by 6.30, it’s already half way above my head. The sky is so clear and the cloud is scarce during the day. And the direct sunlight is really disturbing to me. The people here seem oblivion to it and I seldom catch them using an umbrella. That explains why they’re seriouusly tanned. I feel sticky all over me, to me, it’s another version of Thailand whereby, the area is still developing, pretty noisy, dusty and hot and I get sticky all over once I step down from my lodge.
This lodge here is pretty cool. Free internet, breakfast, shared tv with Astro and bathroom for just RM18 per night for a dorm stay. My other room mates are the real backpackers with huge typical backpacks beside their beds.
The trip….I just got back from a Tamu visit to Kota Belud, believed to be the most popular in Sabah. However, to my disappointment, there weren’t any horse shows or even buffalo races as expected. The horses belongs to the Bajau ethnics. When asked, a local grandpa who conversed with me in mix Malay, Hakka, English and Mandarin said this only happens during big big events such as the Keamaatan and Tamu Besar. Tried some local kuih made of tapioca and pumpkin among others of various colours and textures and the tapai(fermented rice). The minibus(van)to and fro took 1 hr per trip. Oh, one more thing, ppl here seem ignorant to this but yikks… horse dung or is it cows’ or buffalos’ is everywhere on the street and so, it’s normal if one accidentally stepped on it. Luckily, i didn’t.
Yesterday, when I arrived here in KK. The first thing i saw at the airport exit was Waja taxis and Innova pickup trucks. Cool man, the ppl here are pretty well-off. Four wheel drives like Land Cruiser and, Trevor(am I right?) and Innova can be seen everywhere. It’s due to the condition of their landscape, I suppose. As i was driven by friends in the city, the buildings are quite ok but the shop lots apparently are 2 storeys of separate shops with their own balconies. Higher up are houses. The street pedestrian bridge crossing the main roads are extended and linked to these balconies and into the first floor of shopping plazas. Along the coast, the blue sea can be seen, nice and blue and the seawater could be tasted in the air.
UMS is hilly with faculties located far apart. But the architecture are pretty impressive. The Dewan Chancelori for example is like a twin tower with a linkage bridge in the middle and this building is situated on a slope. Can be seen from other part of the uni..and that makes it impressive and another admin building was built with flights of stairs to it just like Batu Caves’.
It’s believed that Warisan Plaza and Central Point Plaza are among the popular plazas here. Althouth currently the widest here but it’s no competitor to Mid Valley. Pretty unorganized.
Ate something new yesterday, believed to be originated from The Phillipines. It’s at Sinsuran night market, held every night. As I strolled the market, I came to a point where hawkers bbqed fishes. Looked simply plain, plain bbq fishes and the other side, some tables were lain with plates of dishes on them. I took the challenge to try it. True enough, although topped with some grinded chili sauce, the fishes were a bit bland, yet fresh. The weirdest to me was the various fresh raw seaweed served on the table. I later learnt that they were to be eaten by soaking into thick black sauce+lime+cilipadi+sugar+salt mixture. The raw seaweeds’ taste was still there as the mixture was pretty watery but the crunchiness remains.
When you see people your skin and face, don’t think they belong to your family. I stumbled upon a few to ask for directions. The first thing they said, I’m not a Chinese. Obviously, I started of in Mandarin here. hehehe. Realizing my mistake, I had to speak in Malay …It stroke me that I’m lousy in Malay now. Can’t string a grammatically correct sentence. Just how many years have I not used it as regularly as I used to???…hmmm…just 4 years and it has deteriorated. Even the grandpa I befriended in Kota Belud(KB) this morning spoke to me in a mixture of Hakka, English, Malay and Mandarin. He was sitting at one of the stall at the Tamu when I heard his conversation in Hakka and asked him bout the horse. Eventually, I learnt that not only he but also the stall hawker married Dusun. The Dusun’s are so damn fair (they own the faces of Chinese) and a few times this granpa by the name ABC (Always Be Careful, hahah) corrected my mistake. hahaha…
